Impasse in Zimbabwe, DRC to affect Trade
Written by Millennium on January 19, 2019
THE recent standoff in Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will negatively affect the trade relations among countries in the Southern African region, the Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) has observed.
CTPD Head of Programmes, Brain Mwiinga has since called on regional trading blocs to help in resolving the situation so that the trade is not disturbed further.
Mr. Mwiinga disclosed that many countries in the African region depend on each other for different goods and services adding that, any disturbance in one of them has a direct impact on intra-trade.
He told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, that many small scale cross border traders in the country frequent the two countries for various business activities.
He added that this is why there is need the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to press governments in the two countries to quickly resolve their differences.
Mr. Mwiinga noted that for continued smooth trade integration to be achieved, it will be dependent on the governments in the two countries to amicably find solutions to their problems.
Zimbabwe has in the past days recorded unrests following government’s decision to increase fuel pump prices by about 150 percent.
Meanwhile, in DRC electoral commission last Thursday declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi the winner of the December 30 vote with 38.57 percent of the tally against chief rival Martin Fayulu’s 34.8 percent, an election that has been disputed and is being challenged in the courts of law. – ZANIS
